Fire-alarm annunciator



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1;

W. A. BARNES.

FIRE ALARM ANNUNGIATOR.

No. 395,111. Patented D 0. 25, 1888.

- WITNESSES: %W%mw NV PETERS. Phmn-mhu n hur. Wnhin len. D. C.

(No Model.) 1 4 SheetsSheet 2f W. A. BARNES.

FIRE ALARM ANNUNOIATOR.

Patented Dee. 25, 1888.

WITNESSES:

l/VVE/VTOI? Wzam 4.

BY ffi P 4 ATTORNEY AZ MMM NY PETERS, Fholo-Lilhographqr, Washington. 04c.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

W A. BARNES.

FIRE ALARM A NNUNOIATOR. No. 395,111. Patented Dec. 25, 1888;

INVENTOH i I Afro/My N. PETERS. mlo-Lilhn n ner, Waihlngton. D. c

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4;.

1.131311%. FIRE-ALARM ANNUNGIATOR. "No. 395,111. Patented Dec. 25, 1888.

u. PETERS, PhakrLilhugr-lpher, Wnh'mglom D. Q

llniTnn STaTns aTsnT (limits.

WILLIAM A. PARN CS, OF BRIDGEPORT, (YONNEF'IILUT.

FIRE-ALARM ANN UNCIATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,111, dated December25, 1888.

Application filed March 1, 1888- Serial No. 265,812. (No model.)

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. Bannns, of Bridgeport, Fair-field county,Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvem ent in lFire-AlarmAnnunciators, of which the following is a specification.

A fire or burglar alarm transmitted electrically over a line to acentral station usually indicates a certain house, district, block, orother locality, smnewherc in which the disturbance of the circuit hasoccurred. In answering the call, the fire department or guard generallygoes to the alarmbox, the number of which is automatically telegraphed,and reliance is placed upon subsequent direction to find the exact pointof the fire, for example.

In order thoroughly to p rotect a densely-populated quarter, it isnecessary greatly to multiply alarm-boxes and to reduce the areas of theseveral dis iricts protected by each box. up'on Fig. 2, which is ad1agra'm or skeleton Otherwise serious delays may occur in locating afire, even after relief has reached a box. In single buildings promptand certain information of the point in the building at which a fire hasbroken out or an improper attempt at entrance has been. made is oftenvery im- 1 vie of a part of the indicator mechanism.

portant. In a warehouse, for example, de-

voted to the storage of large quantities of;

side of the rotary indicater-escapenient dlsk goods in separate closedrooms it is exceedingly desirable to know at once in which room or inwhich story the danger has ooourred. So, also, in hotels and inapartmenthouses, in many instancesas on board ship-access to all partsof the structure or to the goods or cargo therein may be very difficult,and it then becomes of the last importance to be apprised as nearly aspossible of the exact point of a fire, so that valuable time may not belost in breaking out goods or cargo not in the immediate vicinity of thedanger.

My present invention is designed to show the position of the point atwhich the circuit has been disturbed within the general area or districtprotected by the box. Thus, it will show a house in a certain block, forexample, or the story or portion of a story in a I house, or anyparticular locality or localities which-it may be desired especially todistinguish. The operation of the indicatin g mechanism is automatic,and when it is combined cator-disk K.

with automatic alarm mechanism, as .herein illustrated, the samedisturbance which determines the sending of the alarm likewise sets theindicating mechanism into action.

In order to insure rupture of the circuit by lire or by the increasedsurrounding temperature due to the proximity of fire, I propose toconstruct the branches 3 and -l of the line, as hereinafter mentioned,of some fusible material, or preferably to employ the fusible conductorfor which Letters Patent 170. 378,078 were granted to me February 21,1888.

My invention consists in the indicating mechanism, substantially ashereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation and generalview of the apparatus. In this figure, for the sake of clearness, thecircuit-wires are omitted. They are shown, however, and may be readilytraced of the various connections. Fig. is a View of the apparatus,showing the motor-gearing below the plate in elevation and the partsabove said plate in section 011 the irregular line 0: 30 of Fig, 1. Fig.i is a detailed plan Fig. 5 is a plan view, broken, of the under K.Figs. 6 and 7 show the circuit-closing device controlled by the door intwo posit-ions. Fig. 8 is a diagram which shows an arrangement ofindicator-circuits in connection with a building. Figs. 9, 10, 11, and12 illustrate the operation of the escapement U and indi- Fig. 13 is adetailed view of armature 11, plate 13, and spring 51.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

At 1 2, Fig. 2, is the main line divided into two branches, 3 t. Eachbranch 3 it includes one of the coils of the diffcrentially-wound magnet5. This magnet, as shown in Fig. l, is arranged in the box or case 6,which incloses the apparatus. Said box is provided with a hinged door,'7. The magnet is supported on the free end of a leaf-spring, 8, whichis secured to the box or case at 9. Said spring has anupwardly-extending arm, 10, to which is pivoted the armature 11 of 12 isa standard, also supported magnet 5.

upon spring 8. Attached to said standard is a bar of hard rubber orother non-conducting material, 52, which carries a contact-plate, 13,and also a spring, 51,having on its lower side a contact-point, 53,which spring is interposed between said armature and plate and normallyholds the armature away from the pole of the magnet. 7 At 14 is a hookedlatch which is pivoted to bar 52, and which may be used, when desired,to hold the armature 11, plate 13, and spring 51' in contact.

The ends of the coils of magnet connect by wires 15 16, Fig. 2, withfixed spring-fingers 17 18. Between fingers 17 18 is another fixedfinger, 19, which, by means of wire 20, communicates with part 2 of mainline.

21 is a disk of hard rubber or other nonconducting material, supportedin front of the fixed plate 38 on. a shaft, 39. Upon said shaft is awinding-gear, 4:1, and a spring,

The end of the shaft is squared to receive a key, so that by rotatingsaid shaft the spring 4 2 may be wound up. Adjacent to disk 21 is afixed arm, 22, Fig. 1, and upon the face of said disk are two pins, 23and 24.

Normally the pin 24 makes contact with the upper edge of arm 22, and thepin 23 presses together the spring-fingers 17 18 1.), and this is thecondition of the parts when the apparatus is ready for operation.lonsequently (see Fig. 2) there will be a closed circuit from main lineat 1 through branches 3 iand mag net 5, to wires 15 16, to fingers 1718, to linger 19, to wire 20, and to main line at 25 is a spring-finger.

2G is another spring-finger, which is interposed between finger 25 andthe periphery of disk 21. The end of linger 26 is ben t or curved, asshown, to enter a recess in the periphery of disk 21; hence, normallythe fingers and 26 are not in contact. Finger 25 connects with main lineat 1 by wire 27. Finger 26 connects with main line at 2 by wire 20.Consequently said fingers 25 26 are in shunt 27 25 26 20 from main line.

The disk 21, as already stated, is rotated by the shaft 39 and spring4.2. Gemred to said shaft is an eseapement-wheel, 28, l ig'. 1, havingan anchor, 2?). To the anchor 29 is attached a rod, 30, which when heldmotionless causes one of the anchor-pallets to engage with the teeth ofthe escapement-wheel 28, and so to prevent motion of the latter, andhence of the disk 21.

011 the end of rod 30 is a pin, with which engages a hook on the end ofan arm, 31,which extends from the pivoted armature 32 of anelectro-magnet, 33. One terminal of the coil of magnet 33- connccts witharmature 11 l. of magnet 5 by awire, 34, Fig. 2. The other terminalconnects by a wire, 35, with one pole of a local battery, The other poleof said battery 36 connects by wire 37 with contactplate 13' on bar 52.Therefore, included in local circuit with battery 36 are wire 37,contact-plate 13, armature 11, wire 31, magnet 33, and wire 35.

I will now explain the operation of the apparatus so far as described. Acurrent coming over the main line 1 and passing through the o)ositely-wound coils of magnet 5 obviously does not energize thatmagnet. current continues on through wires 15 and 16 to spring-lingers17 1S, finger 19, and wire 20, and soto line again at 2. Suppose now,however, that either branch, or 4, be interrupted, or more resistance beinterposed, or more current applied in one branch than in the other.Then, clearly, the coils of magnet 5 will no longer balance one another,and the magn et under the infl uence of the predomin ating coil will beenergized and consequently will attract its arn'iature 1 1 5 but when the armature 1.1 is attracted it closes contact with plate 1;), and soestablishes local circuit through magnet 33. lllagnet 33 then attractsits armature 32, and so causes arm 31 to release rod 30. Anchor 29 isthen no longer held, and the escapement-wheel 28 and associatedclock-train is free to operate, and hence to rotate the disk 21. Now, asthe disk 21 (see Fig. 1) turns in the direction of the arrow the pin 23thereon, which has been holding the fingers 17 19 18 in contact, iscarried to the left, and these fingers,being of spring metal, separate.Therefore the circuit from main line at T1, magnet 5, wires 15 16, saidfingers, wire 20, and main line at 2 is broken, and the magnet 5 is freeto release its armature again; but the clockwork, having now beenstarted, goes on. As the disk 21 rotates, the recess in its edge movesfrom under the end of finger 2G, and this finger, now pressed upon. bythe circular part of the periphery, is so forced into contact withfinger 'lhere'tbre, main-line circuit is closed through 1, 27, 25, 2(1,20, and 2. On the edge oi disk 2'] are formed indentations arranged inany desired succession, as shown in Fig. 1, into which the extremity offinger 26 descends as they move beneath it. The disk 21 is therefore acircuit breaking wheel interposed in the main cirei'iit, and by itsrotation making and breaking said circuit, so as to produce an alarmthrough any well-known meehan ism capable of being actuated inaccordance with said interruptions at a distant poi'ntas, for example, acentral fire-stati on. To recapil ulate, therefore, whenever thestrength of the current on one branch, 3 or 4, of the mainlinebccomesstronger than on the other branch,the magnet 5 closes local circuitthrough magnet 33, which releases the clock-train, which then rotatesthe disk 2]. \Vhen the disk 21 begins to rotate, the existing circuitfrom main line through the apparatus is broken and a new circuit isestablished, and this new circuit is interrupted in some definite way bythe action of the inequalities on. the periphery of the revolving disk,so that an alarm is thus transmitted over main line to a distantstation, which alarm may serve in the usual way to indicate the locationof the apparatus.

In combination with devices already de- Hence saidscribed I show hereinan indicating mechanism, the object and purpose of which is to exhibitmore definitely the location of the point of disturbance of the circuit,as aforesaid. Thus, for example, the alarm transmitted as beforedescribed may give warning that the disturbai'ice has taken place in acertain building. The indicating device would show to any one repairingto that building whereabout therein the disturbance originate(l-as, forexample, on what floor or what room. Of course this same idea can bevaried in a multiplicity of ways, so that, for example, the alarm mightsend the number of a block of buildings and the indicator show theparticular building; or the alarm-signal might give a district numberand the indicator show in what part of the district, and so on. Theapparatus hereinafter set forth is not modified in any wise materiallyto suit any of these purposes or others of cognate character.

In Fig. 2 the connecting-wires which more particularly relate to theindicator system are represented by (lOtliQtl. lines for convenience inrecognition.

At A is a circular plate of hard rubber or other insulating material.fixed in place upon the plate 3t Upon the face of plate A and disposedat equal intervals apart around its circumference are pairs of elevatedcontactpins B *3, (3 C, D l), E .Q', the. In Figs. 1 and 4: six pairs ofthese points are shown. In Figs. 2 and 8, for the sake of simplicity,butfour pairs are indicated. It will be seen from what follows that anydesired number of such pairs of pins may be employed.

Through a central openingin plate A passes i a shaft, L,which is rotatedby the coiled spring I, Fig. 3, when said spring is wound up. This F isdone by a )pl ing a key to the squared end of the shaft 1 Any othermechanism l'orrotating the shaft l. may, however, be employed, so that Ido not limit myself to the particular device for the purpose abovedescribed. cured to shaft l. is a circular disk, 1i, I igs. 3,

l, and 5, of metal, to the under side of which is secured aspring-finger, G. When the disk li successively with each of the(anilacl-pins B B C t, and so on, on the plate A. A smallPl'OjGOl'iol'l,H, on one side of lhefing G bears directly upon thcsidcol the contact-pin. (Sec dotted lines, Fi Projecting downward from theuiulersidcof the disk ii are as many pairs of pins, N N O, &c., as thereare pairs of pins, 1% 5 (J. The disk K, as will now shortly be seen,acts as an escapement- 7 wheel, the spring I when wound tending to tie IT is stepped in plate 40, passes through plate 38, and carries on itsend an escapement, U, in the form of a mutilated hollow cylindeigwhichis placed in proximity to the pins N N O 0 upon the rotaryescapcmcnt-disk K. When the magnet P attracts its armature Q, r; otionis communicated to the shaft T to rotate the escapeinent U in one dire1=tion, and when the magnet P releases its armature the escapement Uturns in the other direction. The operation of the escapement IT, inconnection with the wheel or disk K, will be understood from Figs. 9,10, 11, and In Fig. 9 the pin N has met the inner periphery ofcscapement U, and the disk K is thus prevented from turning. in Fig; 10the cseapr'nncni: U has been rotated to the new position shown,rcleasing the pin N, and the pin N meets its outer periphery. In Fig. ll the eseapement U has been rotated back to its original position andthe pin Nmcets its innmpcripl'iery. ln liig. 12 the eseapcmmit isbrought back to the position of Fig. 10, and both pins are freed, thedisk being now free to rotate by the action of the spring 1 until theleading pin of the next pair meets the inner periphery of escapeincntll, which is turned once more .inlo the position shown in Fig. .l, whenthe same o 'ierations are repeated.

Near the face of disk 21 are two fixed springl'ingers, V \V. Finger \Vconnects by a wire, (t, Fig. 2, to wire -Ilr, and so to local battery:30. Finger Y connects by wire I; to contact-pin B on plate A. Shaft lwhich passes through plate A, connects by wire c with one end of thecoil of magnet l and the other end of said magnet-coil communicates bywire (I with wire 35, and so with the other pole of battery 36.'lhercliore the above circuit proceeds as follows: from bati cry 36 towire l0 1 to wire o, to linger lherelhc circuit is broken; but, assumingit in begin again at lii'iger it proceeds by wire I.) to point 15.

Here it is broken again. it starts again from shaft L by wire c tomagnet l, wire 1'], wire 235, and so back lo battery. The break in thecircuit between point ll and shaft L is noris revolved, thesl'iring-fingerG makes coniuct inally closed by the swing-linger (i onthe under side ol escapenient-disli. K, resting in contact with saidpoint ll, so that circuit is thus established from point l3 to lingcr(1, lo disk h, and so to shaft 1... This leaves normally but one breakin the circuit--that is, between fingers V and W. Meanwhile the dis K isheld at rest, because the escapement U is in the position shown in l ig.U and en gages pin N, so that it now the fingers Y W be brougl'il. intocontact then the circuit tlnrough magnet I" will. be completed, thearmature Q will be ati racted, the escapement LT turned to the positionshown in Fig. 10, and the disk will be allowed to turn until the pin N,Fig. 10, engages with escapement U; but the disk. in thus rotatingcarries the finger G on its under side out of contact with point B andinto contact with point B, and when the disk is arrested, as alreadydescribed, the finlOO ger remains in contact with point B. The circuitfrom battery 36 then no longer includes wire 4, wire a, fingers V Y, andwire I), but proceeds from battery by wire 37 to wire 3, to wire (2, topoint B, and so to spring (1 disk K, shaft ll magnet l, wire (1, wire35, and back to battery. Now, as the finger G passes from point B topoint B, circuit is broken and the magnet 1 releases its armature, sothat the escapement l n ow takes the position ot' Fig. ll, in which thepin N engaged with the inner periphery of the escapement U but thiscondition remains only until the springfinger G-has met the pin B; but,as has already been said, when the finger G meets the pin B circuit iscompleted again through magnet P; consequently that magnet againattracts its armature and brings the cscapement l' into the positionshown in Fig. .11. Both pins X N are then released from the eseapement,and the disk. K is rotated onward by the action of its spring until theleading pin ot' the next pair, O, meets the eseapement; but as the diskK rotates the finger G leaves the point B. Hence, circuit is brokenthrough magnet P and its armature is retracted by the spring J, so thatbefore the next pin reaches the escapement l said cscapement is rotatedfrom the position shown in Fig. 'l 2 to the position shown. in liig. fl.Suppose now that the finger (t on disk. K next makes contact with thepin (2, Fig. Then local circuit:- will be established from battery So bywire 37 to branch 4, wire f, pin (1, finger G, disk K, shaft L, and soto magnet l and back to battery, as before, and generally as the finger(l touches each pin B B (l C, and so on,in succession, it will establisha closed circuit through magnet P, which will actuate the escapement IT,in the manner already described, to cause the disk K first to rotateahead a short distance equal to the interval between the pins N N, and,second, to rotate a long distance equal to that between each consecutivepair of pinsasN N and 0. Now, re ferring to Fig. 2, it will be noticedthat each pin B B C has an independent conductor leading to one or theother of the branches fl or 4. Thus pin B connects with branch 3 by wire6, pin B connects with wire -'l by wires 7) and a, and pin (1 connectswith wire lby wire f. The other pins on the plate A in Fig. 2 are notshown connected; but i n practice each pin, as in. the precedinginstances, would have its own wire running to one or the other of thebranches 3 or -i-. while the wi res and f connect to different branchesthe wires (I, and connect to different points on the same branch -l-.The object of this will be umlerstood from the following description ofthe general orneration oi the mechanism.

Suppose that a break occurs in the branch l at the point Y, Fig. 2.lilagnet 5 will attractits armature and magnet 33 will release the motormechanism of disk 2]. The alarmsignal will pass upon main line, asalready It will also be observed that described. As the disk 21 rotates,the stop 24 thereon is carried around to meet the inclined end of finger\V, Fig. 1, and so to force said finger W into contactwith finger V;but, al.- though finger G of disk K is in contact with the pin B,circuit is not completed through magnet P because/said. circuit isbroken at Y. Therefore the in dicator-disk K will remain at rest. Butsuppose that the circuit is broken in branch at at the point X, Fig. 2,beyond the point of connection of wire a. Now, when the fin gers V and'W are brought into contact by the rotation of disk 2], circuit iscompleted from battery through magnet P, which attracts its armature,releasing the escapement- U, and the disk K moves ahead until its fingerG leaves pin B and strikes the pin B. The circuit which leads to pin Bis closed from branch 3, and hence the magnet P acts again, both pins b3 are passed by the finger G, which next makes contact with the pin C;but the circuit leadii'ig to pin 0 is broken at X; consequently themagnet P is not energized, the escapement is not moved, and the disk Kstops. It the circuit leading to pin qB had been. broken, the disk wouldhave stopped when its finger touched that pin. To express this in moregeneral terms, as the disk K rot-ates, its finger G sweeps over all thepins B B, (J (1, &c., and establishes circuit between each pi n andmagnet P, if it can. If, however, circuit is broken elsewhere, then whenthe finger G touches the pin connecting with the ruptured circuit themagnet receives no current, and because it receives no current it failsto draw away the escapement, so as to let the disk K continue itsrotation. Therefore the disk K stops. If, however, the finger G as itfeels the successive circuits finds them all in tact, the disk K willmake a complete revolution until the finger G 011cc more meets the pointB. And here the disk K will stop, because by the time this rotation hasbeen effected the disk 21 will also have been rotated and the pin 24thereon will have been carried out of contact with the finger Vt .sothat that finger will no longer make contact with finger V. Consequentlyfingers V and W will separate, the circuit leading to pin B will bebroken automatically, and hence when the finger (It touches pin B magnetP will receive no currentand the disk will stop.

In Fig. 8 I have illustrated my indicating mechanism applied to afour-story building, and by following the various circuits hereexhibited its operation. will be clearly understood. The main line 1,dividing into the branches 3 -l,proceeds up through. the building, thebranches being 011 opposite sides thereof, and connects as before withthe magnet 5. The wires 15 and 16 from this magnet proceed to the alarmmechanism, (here omitted for convenience) and finally the main circuitis completed as before to wire 20 and line 2. It will be noticed thatfrom the wires 3 &in each story of the building wires lead to the pins BB C C D D E E of plate A. Thus, from wire .4,

in the first story, wire a leads to finger 1V, and thence the circuitproceeds to finger V and pin B; from wire 3, in the first story, wireeleads direct to pin B; from wire 4, in the second story, wire f leadsto pin C; from wire 3, in the second story, wire 1'' leads to pin 0;from wire LIL, in the third story, wire g leads to pin D, and from wire3, in the third story, wire g leads to pin D. llinally, from wire 1, inthe fourth story, wire 71 leads to pin E, and from wire 3 wire it leadsto pin E. In. this way I guard both sides of each story of the buildingand I cause the indicatoralisk to stop at the pin at which itfindsbroken circuit. To illustrate-suppose circuit to be broken at X,left-hand side of fourth story. The disk K rotating, the finger Gthereon will feel all the pins in succession, beginning with pin I3, andfind circuitclosed through all until it meets pin E. Here the circuitwould normally be from wire 3 to wire 71 to magnet P, wire (1,battery-wire 35, battery 66, and wire 3 again; but this circuit isbroken at X. Therefore the disk K will stop when its finger G touchespin E. Any one skilled in the art will be able from Fig. 8 to note theeffect of breaking the wire 3 or 1 at any point by simply tracing thecircuit to the proper pin on plate A, and remembering that the disk Kwill stop when its finger touches that pin.

It will be observed that each pair of pins, as C C D D, in Fig. 8,connect with the wires on opposite sides of each story. Consequentlywhen the disk K stops at pin for instance, that indicates a break on theright-hand side of the story. If it stops at pin (1, the fact that thebreak is on the left-hand side is shown. In order to indicate thisconveniently, I affix to the face of the disk K at regular intervals asmany numbers 1 2 3, &c., as there are stories in the building, forexample, as shown in Fig. 4. Then above this disk I arrange a fixedplate, Z, in which are two openings, Z Z, placed so that theindicating-numbers can be successively seen through them as the disk Krotates.

As shown, the number 2 appears in the right-hand opening, Z, and,referring to Fig. 8, this happens when the finger G on disk K touchespin (1'. If the disturbance had occurred on the left-hand side of thestory, (second,) the number 2 would have appeared in the opening Z andthe finger G would have touched the pin 0. This arrangement of theindicator is of course arbitrary and may be varied to suit differingcircumstances.

Returning nowto Fig. 2, 43 is a branch wire extending from wire 37, andM a similar wire extending from wire 34. Wire t3 connects with abracket, 15. Resting upon the bracket 45 is a fiat piece of insulatinmaterial. Figs. 6 and 7, 4:7 having a guide-slot, 48, which receivesfixed guide-pins 49. Near one end of the piece of insulating material-17 is a slot, 50. On the inside edge of the door 7 is a spring-hook,51%, which, when the door is closed, engages in slot 50 and moves thepiece of insulating material 47 between the springfinger 46 and the topof the bracket 45, thus breaking circuit through the shunt 413 4:5 4644., as shown in Fig. 7. \Vhen the door is opened, the hook 51g-drawsthe piece of insulating material 47 from between the springfinger a6 andbracket 15, and thus allows said finger to meet said bracket, and soestablish circuit through the aforesaid shunt. The effeet of thusestablishing circuit is to energize magnet 33 and start the alarm. Inthis way any tamperin with the apparatus is prevented inasmuch as it isnecessary to open the door to get access to the mechanism, and theoperation of opening the door causes an alarm-signal, as aboveexplained, to be transmitted. The said hook 51-} is simply a springhooksecured to the inside edge of the cover, and when the,latter is closedthe hook springs into the slot 50 and operates the sliding insulator,and when the cover is opened it draws upward on the sliding insulatoruntil the latter is stopped by the pins 4:9, when it (the hook) willspring out of engagement and allow the door to open.

The rotation of the disk 21, Fig. 1, is limited by the stop 21, whichfinally comes in contact with the lower side of the arm 22, and soprevents further revolution of the disk.

The object of supporting the magnet 5 and standard 12 upon thespring-arm 8 is to prevent the armature of the said magnet from closingcontact with the plate 13 by any jarring of the box 6.

In another application for Letters Patent filed sin'iultaneouslyherewith, Serial No. 265,813, I have fully described the alarmmechanism. and the spring-supported magnet 5 herein set forth. Mypresent application is limited to the indicator apparatusindividually'and in combination with the said alarm mechanism. Thesubject matte-r of the claims of my said other application are hereind'isclaimed.

I claim 1. The combination of the battery 36, fixed contact B, acircuit-closer, V \V, interposed between said battery 30 and contact- B,springactuated wheel 21 for closing the circuiteloser, an electro-magnetin circuit with battery 36 for automatically releasing the wheel 21,disk K, carrying finger G, and mechanism (as spring I) for rotating saiddisk, electro-magnet P, having armature Q, and escapement U, actuated bysaid armature and moved thereby into and out of engagement with saiddisk K to arrest or release the same, substantially as described.

2. The battery 36, and in branch circuit therewith a fixed contact, B, acircuit-closer, V WV, interposed between said battery 36 and contact B,a spring-actuated wheel, 21, for closing the circuit-closer, anelectro-magnet in circuit with battery 36 for automatically releasingthe Wheel 21, and in a second branch circuit with said battery a fixedcontact, B, in combination with the disk K, car- IIO rying finger G, andmechanism, as spring I, for rotating said disk and moving said fingerinto successive touch with said contact-points, electro-magnet P, havingarmature Q, and escapement U, actuated by said armature and movedthereby into and out of engagement with said disk K to arrest or releasethe same, substantially as described.

3. A line-wire, an electro-magnet having two oppositely-wound coilsincluded, respectively, in branch circuit with said line-wire, acircuit-closer, mechanism for automatically operating saidcircuit-closer, a stop or detent arresting the motion oi said mechanismand controlled to release the same by said electromagnet, in combinationwith a battery, a fixed contact, the said circuit-closer, a movablecontact, and an electro-magnet, (the said parts being in local circuit,)mechanism for moving said movable contact into touch with said fixedcontact, an armature actuated by said electro-magnet, and a stop orcatch actuated by said armature and moyed thereby into and out ofengagement with said movable contact mechanism to arrest or release thesame, substantially as described.

4:. The combination of a lin e-wire, an electromagnet having twooppositely-wound. coils, an armature actuated by said magnet, twobranches from said line-circuit, including said coils, a series ofbranches extending from each of the aforesaid branch circuits and teriminating in fixed contact-points, a circuit-- closer in one of saidbranches actuated by the armature of said electro-magnet to open orclose circuit, a movable circuit-closer and mechanism for moving thesame successively into contact with each of said fixed contactpoints, anelectro-magnet, an armature therefor, a stop or catch actuated by saidarmature and thereby moved into or out of engagement with said movablecircuit-closer, and a local battery, the said local battery including inits circuit the said branches, fixed contactpins, movablecircuit-closer, and electro-magnet, substantially as. described.

5. The line-wire 1 2, haying branches 3 t,

electro-magnet 5, having oppositely-wound coils included, respectively,in said branches, armature 11 of said magnet, rotary disk 21, having pin23, and mechanism for actuating the same controlled by said armature 11,in combination with the local battery 36, having in one branch circuitthe fingers V V and pin B, and in second branch circuitpin 1' and inmain circuit rotary escapement-disk K, carrying contact-linger G, andthe electromagnet P, the said electro-magnet having armature Q, and theescapement U, actuatedby said armature, substantially as described.

\VI'LLIAM A. BARNES. \Vitnesses:

ROSA E. SMITH, ALFRED B. BEERs.

